Economy air conditioning system



Sept. 3, 1957 J. l.. HoYl-:R

ECONOMY AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM Filed sept. 1e, 1954,

INVENTOR Janzes L. HOL/er ATTORNEY United States Patent ECONOMY AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM .lames L. Hoyer, Washington, D. C.

Application September 16, 1954, Serial No. 456,389

2 Claims. (Cl. 98--33) This invention relates to an economy air conditioning system for buildings and has for an object the provision of an improved air conditioning system for economically cooling the air in a building, yor for dehumidifying it, or for both cooling and dehumidifying it according to the weather conditions.

A further object of the invention is to provide such an air conditioning system which may be utilized in conjunction with an existing hot -air furnace installation.

In my copending application Serial Number 325,643 led December 12, 1952, now Patent No. 2,753,157, entitled Economy Air Conditioning System for Buildings, I have disclosed a complete air conditioning system adapted to be installed as a unit to provide heating as well as cooling and dehumidifying. The present invention provides an improved cooling system for cooling an entire building from a central cooler, which may be employed in conjunction with an existing furnace installation by relatively minor modification of the hot air ducts. This results in a material reduction not only in the initial cost of the installation, but in the operating costs. This is due in part to the fact that the unit employs much less electrical power than would a plurality of individual room cooling units, and further, since the unit itself is air cooled, large water bills such as are occasioned by water cooled units are avoided.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means in association with the system whereby the living quarters of the house, such as the living room, dining room, and kitchen are cooled during the day, while the cooled air is directed to the bedrooms during the night, as an automatic timing or manual device may be provided `for shifting from one section to the other at a desired time.

A further object of the invention is the provision of damper means in the furnace ducts whereby the furnace may be cut out of the system during the summer months, and the cooling unit cut out of the system during the winter months with a minimum of effort and diiculty, merely by the adjustment of suitably positioned manually operable dampers in the furnace ducts.

A further object is the provision of an automatically operable damper for selectively directing cooled air to either the sleeping quarters or the living quarters at predetermined times. This damper preferably takes the form of that shown in my copending application Serial Number 357,740 and titled Adjustable Damper, tiled May 27, 1953, issued as Patent No. 2,699,106 on Jan. 1l, 1955.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention comprises the combination, construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter set forth, claimed and disclosed in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

The single figure of the drawing is a schematic representation of the heating system of, il-lustratively, a dwelling having three bedrooms, showing the cooling system of the instant invention in association therewith.

Referring now to the drawing in detail the outline of the dwelling or the like is generally indicated at and con-A tains `a conventional hot air furnace 11 customarily located 2,804,816 Patented Sept. 3, 1957 ice in the basement. A main heating duct 12 extends from furnace 11 and is provided with a branch duct 13 leading to an outlet 14 in the living room, a duct 15 leading to an outlet 16 in the dining room, and a duct 17 leading to an outlet 18 in the kitchen. These three ducts may be considered as constituting, when the cooling system is in operation, as will be more fully described hereinafter, the cooling means for the living quarters for the house. Duct 12 is also provided with branch ducts 19, 20 and 21 leading to outlets 22, 23 and 24 respectively in the three bedrooms of a three bedroom house, and a branch duct 25 leading to an outlet 26 in the bathroom. The ducts 19, 20, 21 and 25 may be considered as providing means for cooling the sleeping zone of the house.

Any suitable number of return air ducts may be provided at desired locations, but in the illustrative embodiment shown, there is disclosed only a centrally positioned return duct 27, from which la conduit 28 Vleads back to the furnace 11.

The above described ducts are largely conventional, and apply to any hot air type of furnace. In incorporating the cooling system of the instant invention into the heating system, an air cooling unit 30 of any desired type is suitably located in the dwelling, and is provided with an air inlet 31 and outlet 32 communicating with the outside atmosphere for cooling the unit itself. From the unit 30 a duct 33 leads to a damper 34, from which extend two diverging ducts 35 and 36, respectively. The damper 34 may be automatically operated and is preferably `of the type described in my Patent 2,699,106 above mentioned, for selectively directing the air of the cooling unit 30 into I011e of ducts 35 or 36 in accordance with the zone of the house to be cooled. Duets 35 and 36 communicate with duct 12 on opposite sides of a manually operated damper 37, the purpose and use of which will be more fully pointed out hereinafter.

A return duct 38 extends from return duct 28 to the air cooling unit 3), and has positioned therein a manually operable damper 39. A third manually operable damper 40 is positioned in the main supply duct 12 between the furnace 11 and the first duct 13.

In the use and operation of the device when it is desired to heat the house during the winter months, the damper 39 is closed, and the damper 34 may be adjusted as described in my above mentioned application Serial Number 357,740 to close both ducts 35 and 36. Dampers 40 and 37 are opened and when the furnace is started heat passes through all of the branch ducts to heat the entire house, the heated air returning `to the furnace for reheating through the duct 28.

During the warmer months when it is desired to cool the house, dampers 37 and 40 are closed, damp-er 39 is opened, and the damper 34 positioned in such manner that either duct 35 or duct 36 is opened while the other is closed. With this arrangement air is cooled in the unit 30 and passes during the day through duct 36 into duct 12 and then outwardly through the ducts 13, 15 and 17 to cool the living room, dining room and kitchen, respectively.

The damper 37 and the damper 34 prevent passage of air from the unit to the sleeping Zone. The return air after it has become heated passes through the duct 28 and the duct 38 back to the unit 30, the damper 40 precluding passage of air through the furnace 11. During the night, however, when it is desired to cool the sleeping zone the position of the damper 34 is shifted, either manually or by any desired conventional clockwork mechanism to close the duct 36 and open the duct 35 whereupon cooled air from unit 30 is passed to the bedrooms and bath through the ducts 19, 20, 21 and 25, respectively, the air returning in the same manner through the ducts 28 and 38.

While the device has been shown and the structure described in detail, it is obvious that this invention is not to 3 be-considered asbeing limited to the exact form disclosed, and-that changesin detail andconstructionmay be made therein within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Having thus set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what is claimed is:

ll An economy air coolingsystem for use in a build-y ing having a h-ot air furnace, a-rnain air ductl extending therefrom, branch air ducts extending from the main air duct to the various rooms, and an air return duct to the hot air furnace, the building rooms being divided into a sleeping zone and a living zone; damper means in the main air duct dividing the branch air ducts leading to one zone from the branch air ducts leading tothe other zone, a second damper means in the main air` duct forclosingthe main air duct to the hot air furnace, an air cooling unit, an air return duct branching from the hot air furnace air return duct and leading to said air cooling unitdamper meansin said branching air return duct, a cooled air duct leading from said air cooling unit, said cooled air duct being bifurcated and providing two separate cooled air ducts leading therefrom and entering said main air duct at points on opposite ends of said main duct dividing damper means, damper means adjacent the point of bifurcation operable for selectively directing cooled air from said air cooling unit into either of but not both of said-twofseparate cooled air ducts andthusthroughone part of the divided main `air duct and its branch air ducts to `one but not both zones of the building, whereby when both said main air duct damper means are opened and said branching air return duct damper means is closed, said air cooling unit is operatively cut off from all said ducts and the hot air furnace is operatively connected to all said ducts for normal operation, and when both said main air duct damper means are closed and said branching air return duct damper means is open, the hot air furnace is operatively cut olf from all said ducts and said air cooling unit is selectively operatively connected to either but not both building zones.

2. The economy air cooling system of claim l, and vent means communicating said air cooling unit to the atmosphere outside the building for cooling the mechanism of said air cooling unit.

Ridler et al Aug. 27, i935 Davis Junev6, 1944 

